Givens candid after setback

Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Don Givens conceded his side had their “backsides smacked” following a miserable European Championship qualifying defeat to Switzerland.

Ireland’s 13-game unbeaten run was left in tatters as Givens’ side suffered their worst loss for two years with a 4-2 mauling by the Swiss at Stadium Neufeld, home of Young Boys Bern.

A mistake by Notts County goalkeeper Wayne Henderson inside four minutes set the tone for the night, with Stefan Lichtsteiner capitalising.

Ireland were lucky to go in at the interval only 1-0 down, only to fall asleep again at the start of the second half, with Xavier Margairaz stroking home the second and third goals.

Sunderland striker Stephen Elliott then struck his sixth goal on his 10th appearance at this level to become the Under-21s’ all-time leading scorer, breaking a four-way tie with Andy Reid, Mark Kennedy and Graham Barrett.

But Switzerland added a fourth in the 80th minute thanks to an own goal from Manchester City defender Paddy McCarthy, with Celtic striker Aiden McGeady’s late penalty a mere consolation.

Givens said: “We made too many mistakes, and against a team who are not bad, we got our backsides smacked.

“After three minutes we gave them a present, but at half-time I still believed it was possible for us because it looked like we had weathered the storm and were getting into it.

“But three minutes into the second half there was a straight ball we should easily have coped with and then all of a sudden we were 2-0 down, then we made another mistake straight after that.

“But with this group of players, I still believed at 3-0 that something was possible, and after we got one back, Stephen had a really good chance to make it 3-2.

“In my heart I believe if that had gone in then we would have got something out of the game because they were rocking, they were gone.

“But the goalkeeper made a good save with his legs, and then they get another one and that killed us.

“I’m not happy with our performance on all four goals because we made basic errors.”

Givens felt his side were lacking in a number of areas, adding: “I’ve just said to the lads that I couldn’t fault their effort.

“But when you come to these places you need a good level of concentration, discipline and technique, and the passing wasn’t good enough.

“If those levels aren’t up to the effort then we suffer, and we suffered tonight. We went to sleep a number of times.”